


Let Me Take Care of You

by Bandom5eva



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Football, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Josh is an angel, M/M, Protective Josh, Rimming, Smut, So fluffy I'm gonna die, brief descriptions of homophobia-based violence, josh as a football player, sweet smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 14:36:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11761971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandom5eva/pseuds/Bandom5eva
Summary: "I promised you I’d never let anything happen to you again and I meant it."Josh is the quarterback, Tyler is his boyfriend. Some of his teammates don't like that.It's almost exactly as high school as it sounds.





	Let Me Take Care of You

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for a description of a homophobic attack at the beginning of this fic. If you'd like to skip it, it's the very first part of the fic. Be safe <3 
> 
> Those pictures of Josh playing football with Alex and Jack exist and I don't know, this happened. I don't have an excuse. I also have a serious thing for protective Josh, so. There's lots of that. 
> 
> Join me on the garbage train. 
> 
> Photo: https://twitter.com/JackAllTimeLow/status/807718918441865216
> 
> Obviously this is a work of fiction and I don't think any of this actually happened.

The first things he heard were the hushed whispers behind him.

Then, it was the quickening footsteps, rapidly catching up to him. 

Tyler turned, confused and a little lost in his head, his backpack strap sliding off his shoulder as he moved. He glimpsed the three hulking bodies in a blur; they were huddled so tightly together that from his split-second glance they seemed to morph into one deformed, disjointed creature, with too many limbs and too-eerie hisses, stalking him through the shadows. As he righted his head, he suddenly became aware of the startling lack of other voices, other bodies in the halls around him. The entire building felt as empty and silent as a graveyard, with just a hint of the same foreboding feeling hanging in the air. 

Tyler walked a little bit faster.

He still felt not-all-there, his heartbeat strangely loud in his ears as he walked toward the doors. His mind seemed slow, like it was straining against a rope to move forward, stretching to grasp onto his next thought. He reached for his pocket absently, his sweaty fingers fumbling against the denim of his jeans for his phone. He stopped before he pulled it out, raised his hand, and put his fingers on his backpack strap instead, hiking it back up on his shoulder. He scolded himself silently, his head twitching slightly in a disgruntled shake at his own paranoia. This was school, not a dark alley in a bad neighborhood at 4:30 a.m.; what on earth was he thinking? He huffed out a breath, loosened his white-knuckled grip on his ukulele in one hand, and let his mind wander again to the evening he had planned with his boyfriend after his practice was finished. 

He thought back to the weekend before, to Josh’s hands and mouth on his skin, sweet and gentle and perfect. He purposely ignored the piercing squeak of a shoe against the hallway floor in favor of remembering the way Josh’s voice sounded when he said Tyler’s name, when he whispered all the sweet things he always said into his ear. Tyler felt his pounding heart rate slow as the comfortable, calming feeling always associated with thoughts of his boyfriend washed over him; he had been dating Josh for about 6 months now, and he felt like he would never get sick of a single thing about the dark-eyed boy. 

He never would have guessed that Josh Dun, the quarterback of the football team and holder of all the status that position entailed, would be gay, let alone interested in someone like him. Tyler was quiet, too wrapped up in music and too much of a daydreamer, a past (and sometimes current) target of bullies who couldn’t understand his tendency to space out and his intense attachment to his ukulele. When Josh had asked him out, he had almost said no, afraid that the football player was just looking for an opportunity to make fun of him, or worse. However, in the 6 months since that day, Josh had never stopped treating him perfectly, endlessly kind and sweet and patient, and Tyler could barely imagine a world without him now. 

He hoped for a repeat performance of the previous weekend’s activities tonight after Josh was finished with football practice, especially since today was Friday and they had all night to spend together. He smiled softly, affectionately, picturing his boyfriend with the tousled, terrible helmet hair he would surely be sporting the next time Tyler saw him. 

His smile dropped off sharply when he heard an unfamiliar voice call his name. He turned slowly around, his head cocked to the side and his mouth open in the start of a question. He never got past the beginning. 

He felt the hands on his backpack first, the sudden pull swinging him around sharply as the words disappeared from his lips, blown away by the sharp whoosh of air that left his mouth all at once. He felt his feet fly out from under him as he stumbled, but didn’t fall, as another set of hands grabbed him tightly by the shoulders and shoved him through a doorway. He felt dazed, the lights peeking around the blinds on the windows suddenly too bright to his eyes, and he looked around the room quickly as he regained his footing and twisted to face the direction the hands had come from. 

His heart dropped like a stone as the click of the door closing echoed in his ears. 

“Hi, Tyler,” one of them said softly, stepping toward him. Tyler took a step back, swallowing with an audible click. There were three of them, boys he vaguely recognized as football players but couldn’t have named. They continued to press in closer, slowly, menacingly, and Tyler couldn’t speak. All of the air seemed to have been sucked suddenly out of the room; he couldn’t force any oxygen into his lungs. 

“We’ve been waiting to talk to you, Tyler. I’m so glad we finally caught you by yourself so we could chat.” Tyler felt a cold sweat break out on his skin. “Here’s the thing,” the first one continued, too casual for the mean glint in his eyes and the sharp edge of his smile. “We have a little bit of a problem.”

Tyler was frozen, desperately trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. A thought flitted across his fear-soaked mind about when he had forgotten how to work those muscles, whether he really would choke before _whatever_ was about to happen to him could even begin. 

“The problem, Tyler,” said another of the boys, stepping forward again as Tyler’s back hit the far wall of the empty room, “is that you’ve really fucked some things up for us this year.”

Tyler blinked, his mouth slightly agape, and he opened his mouth to protest, to insist that he couldn’t possibly have done anything to hurt these boys whose names he didn’t even know, but he was cut off by the first boy again.

“You see, you’ve turned our quarterback into a little faggot just like you, and now all he cares about is you instead of winning that state title with us, and that’s just not something we can have, Tyler,” he spit, suddenly so close to Tyler that Tyler could feel his breath hot on his face. He reached out, slamming both palms into the wall on either side of Tyler’s face, leaning forward with a low snarl. Tyler jerked back, desperate to get away from him, but his head hit the wall hard, pain radiating through his skull from the impact. His eyes stung with tears as his skull throbbed, and he blinked furiously to clear his vision, hearing his breath coming in shallow, rapid pants as if the sound was floating to his ears from underwater. His ears rang and the other boy’s glare swam in front of his eyes. Tyler heard a little whimper escape from between his lips, and the other boy scoffed at the sound. 

“You’re pathetic,” he hissed, low, right in Tyler’s ear. “He has hot girls throwing themselves at him every day, but somehow you managed to turn his head all around? I’ll never understand how you pulled that one off.” 

The other two had moved away from the door to surround Tyler now. The room felt stifling, boiling, and Tyler gasped, desperate to get even the tiniest wisps of air into his collapsing lungs. Black crept into the edges of his vision; he swayed a little on his feet. 

He was brought sharply back to the present by a hard grip on his arm. He cried out as it was wrenched violently behind him, voice finally freed from the stone prison of his throat, his backpack and ukulele falling to the floor with a too-loud, discordant crash. “Shut the _fuck up_ ,” hissed the boy who had his arm in a vice grip, slamming a hand roughly over Tyler’s mouth to silence him. His fingers pushed harshly into Tyler’s cheeks as he squeezed, dirty, broken nails scratching the thin skin, drawing tiny beads of blood. The first boy smirked, patting Tyler’s face around the other one’s hand; the contrast of the soft taps and the fingertips digging holes in his cheek made Tyler’s mouth go dry. 

“You’re going to stay the fuck away from him,” the boy whispered softly, almost sweetly, leaning in so close that his lips were brushing Tyler’s ear. Tyler’s skin crawled as he fought desperately to pull away from his mouth, head still pounding. “You’re never going to even talk to him again. Let me show you why...” 

Tyler felt a fist slam into his stomach, and he choked, his mouth flying open behind the rough hand still slapped across his face. His knees buckled at a second punch to his side, and the boy holding his cheeks finally removed his hand, letting Tyler crash hard to the floor in a heap. Tyler gasped for air, clawing desperately at the floor that suddenly felt slick beneath his hands as he tried to pull himself up to run away, crawl away, _anything_ to get away from their attack. 

A foot collided with the side of his head, and a cracked sob fell from Tyler’s lips as his arms gave out and he collapsed, bright, searing pain exploding behind his eyes. He curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he tried to fend off the worst of their blows. He couldn’t see where the hits were coming from anymore, couldn’t differentiate the insults and slurs being hurled his way through the ringing in his ears and the pounding in his head. He lost count of the places their fists and feet kissed, stopped trying to prevent them, instead staring hard at a spot on the far wall, Josh’s face flashing in his mind. He heard a loud crack, and a piece of his now-splintered ukulele scratched across his arm on its way toward the floor. 

A long, animalistic howl tore from his throat as he was hauled to his feet by his hair, his voice finally shattering the block in his throat, releasing violently from his collapsing body until a hand was slapped back across the lower half of his face. He tasted iron, choked and gagged, couldn’t breathe through the fingers clamped across his mouth and nose. He blinked hard, willing himself to focus on the hateful face just inches from his own but finding it impossible as the room swirled and slid in front of his hazy eyes. “Stay the fuck away from him,” reached his ears through miles and miles of empty, dead space, and he realized numbly that he was somehow staring at the ceiling again, pain overwhelming his senses. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he suddenly felt a hand on his arm again. He shrieked, digging his fingernails into the floor as he pulled himself away from the blow he knew was coming. His breaths were wet, ragged choking sounds in his ears; he coughed violently, his chest aching, doubling over with his face almost pressed flat to the floor. He saw red spots dancing in front of his eyes against the white tiles, and he raised his hand in a feeble attempt to keep them _away from him_. His hand shook as he held it up between himself and the oncoming assault, a last attempt at defense. 

“Tyler, Tyler!” he thought he heard, and the hand on his arm was back, firmer this time, but gentle. Tyler’s head spun as he tried to focus on something other than the roaring in his ears. He was laid on his back, a hand under his head preventing it from resting against the floor. He couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t _think_ over the pain coursing through his skull. 

“Oh my god, what happened to him?” A different voice. Tyler fought with his eyelids, struggling to lift their crushing weight so he could try to make sense of what was happening, of the hand brushing the hair back from his forehead and the panicked voices trying to penetrate the fog in his head. He felt his chest ache sharply with every rapid rise like a stab to his lungs, and he wondered vaguely if he should try to slow down his breathing.

“What is he saying?”

“Shut up. Tyler, can you hear me?” He knew these voices but couldn’t place them; he reached through his syrupy mind to find the faces, the names attached to them, coming up empty. He told his throat to respond, but all he heard was a low whimper, a ragged sound that _couldn’t_ have come from his body.

“Call Josh. Get him here right now.”

 _Yes_ , Tyler thought, even the voice in his head sounding too slow to him. _Josh_. Why did he need Josh? He couldn’t remember, couldn’t _think._ He had something important to tell him, he was sure, if he could only grasp onto the thread slipping quickly from his mind, pull it back before he lost it forever. He heard a frantic voice, too quick to even begin to understand, felt a hand on his cheek, and he let the water rushing in his ears slip over his head. 

\--

Josh’s heart hammered in his chest as he raced down the halls, trying to keep himself calm.

_“What’s up, man?” Josh asked as he answered his phone, mildly confused as he pushed his locker door shut with the back of his hand and set his practice shoes on the bench. He shifted the phone from his shoulder to his hand. “Where are you? You know we’re all going to have to run if you’re late, and I’ve got plans after-”_

_“Josh.” Jack’s voice sounded panicked, just this side of hysterical. Josh felt his pulse quicken a little at the sound of his friend’s words. He could hear another voice in the background, fast, high-pitched, frantic, but he couldn’t make out the words through the phone line. “You need to get to the science lab in building A, right now. It’s-“ He hesitated, and Josh was already jamming his shoes back on his feet, his mind racing wildly._

_“It’s Tyler.” Josh’s heart stopped, his fingers freezing on his shoelaces as his stomach dropped through his feet. “I don’t- I don’t know what happened, Josh… just get here. Now.” The line went dead, and Josh was already halfway out the door._

He tore around a corner, pushing off the lockers that lined the wall. Another turn, two. He couldn’t make his feet move fast enough. Tyler’s face loomed in his head, and his stomach churned as his mind ran through a million terrible scenarios at the same time. His heart threatened to leap out of his throat, and he desperately tried to keep his breathing under control. Finally, _finally,_ he turned into the hallway that held the science lab; he saw Jack waiting outside. 

“What’s going on?” he demanded as he approached, the harsh edge of his voice surprising even him. 

Jack held up his hands, eyes wide, face pale, and Josh felt a sharp pain somewhere behind his ribs. “Josh, we don’t know what happened. We heard someone yell on our way down to the field for practice, so we just came to see what was happening. We just found him like this. I didn’t know what to do, Josh, he-“ Josh threw his arm forward and shoved him violently out of the way without a single conscious thought, tearing the classroom door open. Jack pushed off the wall and turned quickly to follow, reaching for Josh. In his haste, he almost collided with the shorter boy, who had stopped dead one step inside the doorway. 

The first things Josh saw were the flecks of blood staining the white tile floor, and his stomach gave a violent lurch, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. “Oh my god,” he breathed, frozen to the floor. 

Alex looked up at Josh helplessly, one hand holding Tyler’s head up a few inches and the other dabbing at the blood on his cheek with a wet paper towel. Tyler’s eyes were closed, his face twisted in discomfort. One of his eyes was already beginning to darken, his lip was split and dripping down his chin, and the scratches on his cheek were still oozing despite Alex’s attempts at stopping the flow of blood. He had angry red scratches on one arm, and his shirt rode up a bit to reveal already-forming bruises on the golden skin of his stomach. Josh felt a sudden, violent urge to puke as he wondered what other marks were hidden by Tyler’s clothes. 

“We didn’t know what to do,” Jack repeated, softly, from over Josh’s shoulder. “Alex couldn’t get him to answer; he wasn’t making any sense. He was hyperventilating, and-“ He paused, swallowed. Josh felt light-headed. “He was asking for you,” Jack continued, voice even lower, hesitant. “He was just mumbling your name, over and over, when we got here. We tried to talk to him, to help, to figure out what happened, but. He just kept repeating ‘Josh, Josh, please’ like it was on a loop.” 

A strangled sound ripped from Josh’s throat as he finally found his feet, stumbling forward to fall next to Tyler. 

“I think he passed out,” Alex whispered, face pale. “He was hyperventilating; I couldn’t calm him down. I think he was having a panic attack. I don’t know if he knew who we were.”

Josh reached for Tyler tentatively, curling his fingers around the back of his head and pulling him into his lap like he was made of glass, like he would shatter. He touched Tyler’s cheek gently, so gently, hesitant to even brush his fingers against his skin for fear of hurting him somehow. “Tyler, baby, oh my god, _Tyler,_ ” he whispered, hands shaking as he brushed his fingers feather-light across Tyler’s face. Tyler’s eyelids fluttered but didn’t open, and Josh felt his heart clench. 

“What happened?” he whispered to Alex, disbelief and fire curling tightly, heavily in the pit of his stomach. 

Alex had moved to stand by Jack, a few feet back from Josh and Tyler, giving them space. He hesitated, his eyes on the floor. “We don’t really-“

“What did you see.”

Alex winced, eyes briefly flitting to Jack’s before returning to the floor, unable to meet Josh’s. “We saw three people running away as we turned the corner. We aren’t sure who it was, but.. they were in practice clothes, football clothes.”

“We think it was Matt, Jeremy, and Dylan,” Jack interrupted in a rush, finally raising his eyes to meet Josh’s. 

Josh sucked in a short breath, feeling his stomach clench in immediate, white-hot fury. He couldn’t see for a second, red clouding his vision, the rage so fast and overwhelming that it knocked the wind out of him. He wanted to find them, to make them hurt, to make them bleed. 

A soft whimper from his lap brought him crashing back down to earth. 

Tyler’s eyes fluttered all the way open this time, and he blinked slowly, seemingly staring at nothing in the air above his head. _“Tyler,”_ Josh breathed, his relief immediately overpowering and silencing the anger he had felt only seconds before. 

Tyler opened his mouth, poked his tongue out gingerly to prod at his split lip, and whimpered. “Josh,” he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut again as he shifted slightly. 

“I’m here, baby,” Josh whispered, brushing the hair off of Tyler’s forehead gently, smoothing his fingertips down his jaw, unable and unwilling to stop touching him, inspecting him. “What happened?”

Tyler whimpered again, leaning into Josh’s hand on his cheek. He moved like he was going to sit up, then let out a choked cry, slumping back down into Josh’s arms. “Hurts,” he whispered, and Josh’s chest ached. 

“What happened, Tyler?” he repeated as Tyler opened his eyes again, this time focusing on Josh’s face. “Tell me who did this.”

“I don’t know,” Tyler answered softly, lifting his arm to reach for Josh’s hand, which was immediately slipped into his with a soft squeeze. “I didn’t know them.” He took a breath. “I didn’t know their names. They were on the football team, like you guys. They said-“ Tyler’s voice broke off suddenly as he felt tears overwhelm him, and he pulled his hand from Josh’s to hide his face behind his arm, unwilling to let Josh see him break down, feeling small and as pathetic as they said he was. 

“Tyler,” Josh prompted softly with a gentle hand on his arm. “Baby, it’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe now; I’ve got you. You can tell me. What did they say?” He laced his fingers with Tyler’s again and gently moved his arm away from his face. 

Tyler hiccupped, blinking at the ceiling, willing the tears to stop before he broke down completely. “They said I had caused a problem for your team, that I had turned you into a- into a _faggot like me.”_ He couldn’t hold back anymore; a sob rattled from deep in his chest as the dam broke and the tears finally flooded from his eyes. Josh’s hand twitched in Tyler’s, his grip tightening for a split second before he gathered Tyler up as gently as he could, holding him to his chest as he sobbed. 

“They grabbed me and pushed me in here and said all those things, and they started hitting me and kicking me and I couldn’t stop them, Josh, I couldn’t do _anything._ And they told me to stay away from you and left me here and I don’t know what happened, I just blacked out.” Tyler was sobbing in earnest now, smearing tears and snot and blood all over Josh’s practice t-shirt as he clung desperately to him. Josh whispered softly to him, reached up his hand to smooth through Tyler’s hair. His fingers brushed a knot already rising on the side of Tyler’s head, and his other fist clenched a little tighter in Tyler’s shirt. 

He stayed just like that, holding Tyler and whispering soothingly, pressing feather-light kisses to the top of his head, mindful of the knot, until Tyler’s sobs finally subsided, winding down into occasional hiccups as he made no move to lift his head from Josh’s chest. 

“It’s okay, Tyler,” Josh murmured finally, kissing his head again, “I’m here, I’ve got you. You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone touch you. Not ever again.” Tyler whimpered once more, pushing his cheek a little more into Josh’s chest, as much as he could stand with the throbbing in his face. Josh helped move him into a sitting position, keeping his hands on Tyler at all times. Once he was sitting, Josh cupped his face gently in his hands, tilting his head up and down and left and right, inspecting his injuries carefully, feeling his chest tighten and his blood boil more and more with every bruise he uncovered on Tyler’s soft, tan skin. 

Tyler felt like his head would split in two; every turn sent waves of dizziness and nausea through his body. Josh reached to grab Tyler’s backpack, and Tyler glimpsed his ukulele, split into two large pieces with splinters of wood scattered across the floor. His face fell just as Josh glanced back at him, and Josh set a hand on his arm carefully, comfortingly. He swung Tyler’s backpack over one broad shoulder and knelt back down beside him. “Come on, Ty, let’s get you out of here,” he said, and Tyler winced, anticipating the movement required even just to stand. 

“I don’t think-“ he started, but Josh shushed him gently, scooping him up carefully and standing. Tyler let out a surprised squeak but wrapped his arms around Josh’s neck gratefully, shutting his eyes to ward off the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him at the movement. Josh glanced down at him, cautious with his movements, trying to avoid unnecessarily jostling Tyler’s bruised body. He turned to Jack and Alex, still hovering uncertainly near the door. 

“I’m taking him home. You can tell Zack I won’t be at practice,” he said firmly, glancing between the two of them. 

“We’ll take care of it,” Jack assured him, still slightly wide-eyed and uncertain as he examined Josh’s face. Josh clenched his jaw and nodded once, shortly, and moved around them and out the door of the classroom with Tyler. He carried him effortlessly to the parking lot and set him carefully in the passenger seat of his car. 

“Ty,” he whispered hesitantly, noticing the other boy’s still-closed eyes. Tyler slid his eyes open with effort, blinking up at Josh silently. “Do you want to go to the hospital, babe? You’re not bleeding anymore, but…” His voice trailed off, eyes sliding down to Tyler’s stomach, where he knew a pattern of red and purple must surely be continuing to spread. 

Tyler shook his head quickly, his eyes wide. “No, please just take me home. I just want to go home,” he begged, reaching for Josh’s wrist. 

Josh bit his lip, but nodded, closing the door and walking around to the driver’s side. Tyler closed his eyes again against the onslaught of his throbbing head, but didn’t sleep, just listened to the sounds of the road and Josh tapping his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel as he drove. 

\--

When the car stopped, Tyler opened his eyes, only half surprised to see not his own house but Josh’s through the window. Josh climbed out and lifted Tyler back out of the car carefully, carrying him inside and up to his room without bothering to stop to check in with his parents. 

“They won’t be home from work for another hour or so,” Josh said, as if he was reading Tyler’s mind. He set Tyler carefully on his bed, and Tyler sighed, raising a stiff arm to touch his face gingerly. He grimaced when he pulled his fingers back flaked with dried blood from his lip. 

Josh reached out too, dark eyes fixed steadily on Tyler’s, and touched his cheek so gently that Tyler almost didn’t feel his fingers. He stared at Tyler for a long moment, fingertips barely brushing his skin. His eyes were intense; he looked like he wanted to say something, and Tyler almost opened his mouth to ask, but then Josh blinked, pulled his hand away, and said, “let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?”

Tyler looked confused, but Josh just smiled, lifting him back up carefully and carrying him to the bathroom. Tyler made a soft, indignant noise at being carried _again,_ but his eyes slipped shut for a few seconds, and in the back of his mind, he thought that he could get used to this particular perk of dating a football player under different circumstances. 

If he even was still dating a football player.

Josh set Tyler down carefully on the edge of the bathtub and turned around, just as Tyler burst suddenly into loud, anguished sobs. Josh spun back around, horrified, sure that he had somehow injured Tyler further, and dropped immediately to his knees beside him. 

“Tyler, Ty, baby, what is it? Did I hurt you? What’s wrong? Tell me what’s wrong,” he babbled, unable to control the icy fear inching its way through his veins. Tyler sucked in a breath, quiet for a split second; he looked at Josh’s wide, soft, dark, beautiful eyes and let out another wail. 

Josh felt nearly hysterical, tugging at his own hair anxiously as his heart clenched, his mind furiously working as he tried to figure out what to do, how to fix this. “Tyler-“ he started, but Tyler cut him off. 

“I’m so sorry I messed up football,” he choked out, letting the tears pour down his cheeks unhindered. “I’m sorry, Josh, I didn’t know. Please don’t break up with me. I-“ He was interrupted as another violent sob racked through his body, transforming into a cough halfway through. 

His words hit Josh like a sledgehammer to the chest. He grasped the edge of the tub to keep himself upright, dazed by the sudden, intense ache in his chest. “Tyler,” he breathed, disbelief coloring every syllable. Tyler hiccupped, hiding his face in his hands, leaning away from Josh. 

“Tyler,” he said more firmly, taking Tyler’s hands away from his face and holding them in his own. “Tyler. You haven’t done _anything_ wrong. _Of course_ I’m not going to break up with you. Tyler. I could _never._ ” He squeezed Tyler’s hands as gently as he could, trying to convey the desperation he felt through his fingertips. 

Tyler sucked in a shaky breath, leaning forward again to rest his forehead against Josh’s shoulder. Josh wrapped his arms tentatively around Tyler’s body, careful to not rest their weight on him. “You promise?” Tyler whispered the question against his skin, so quietly that Josh wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t felt his lips form the words. 

“I promise,” Josh insisted, feeling that white-hot, thick _something_ flare in his stomach again. He clenched his jaw, a wave of fury at _anyone_ who would dare to hurt the boy in his arms threatening to overwhelm him again. He wanted to feel their bones beneath his fists. He wanted to see the fear in their eyes as they looked at him. He wanted to make them feel every single thing and more that they had made Tyler feel when he wasn’t there to protect him. He wanted to make them pay. He wanted-

Tyler whimpered a little, sitting up and whispering Josh’s name into the suddenly-heavy air between them. Josh blinked, refocusing on Tyler’s face, his dark eyes shining out from the rapidly-discoloring skin around them. “My shirt,” Tyler whispered, wide-eyed, and Josh quickly unclenched his fists, releasing the fabric with a start. 

“I’m sorry Ty, I’m sorry,” he said quickly, smoothing his shirt back down gently. 

“What is it?” Tyler mumbled, his tears mostly subsided, curious dark eyes searching Josh’s. 

Josh’s mouth twisted as he narrowed his eyes at the floor, breaking their gaze, feeling the heat coursing through him. “I’ll kill them,” he whispered, barely audible. 

“What?” Tyler asked, leaning a little closer. 

“I’ll kill them,” Josh repeated through his clenched jaw, a little louder this time. “I’ll kill them, Tyler. I’ll kill all of them for doing this to you. I’ll never let them get away with this. I’m going to find out who it was, and when I do-“ Josh stopped himself abruptly, noticing Tyler’s wide eyes blinking back at him. He took a deep breath, and then another, counting as he let the air in and out, willing himself to calm down, to focus. Tyler needed him. The rest could come later. 

“I’m sorry, Ty, don’t worry about that right now,” he said soothingly, running his hand gently down Tyler’s arm. “Let me help you get some of this blood off, okay?” 

Tyler nodded, still eyeing Josh warily, but he allowed Josh to lift his shirt gently off over his shoulders. Josh sucked in a breath at the sight of the angry purple and red bruises scattered across Tyler’s stomach and chest; he closed his eyes for a second, breathing through the tightening in his chest and the fierce ache in his heart. He forced his eyes back open, scanning Tyler’s body for any signs of cuts or serious injuries. He ran his fingers lightly down Tyler’s chest, listening for a sharp inhale or anything else that sounded like broken ribs. Years of football had taught him the signs well. Hearing and feeling nothing, he stopped with his fingers right above the waistband of Tyler’s jeans. 

“Ty, can I take these off too? Need to check your legs for cuts,” he said carefully, waiting for Tyler to nod before he unbuttoned his jeans and carefully helped him pull them off. 

Tyler wrapped his arms around his stomach as Josh inspected his legs, finding only a few beginnings of bruises. Josh sighed, resting his hands on Tyler’s knees as he watched him. Tyler’s gaze was fixed on the tub, and his arms were shaking slightly where they were wrapped around his bare stomach. He looked so _small._ Josh felt his heart break, and he stood to get a soft cloth, wetting it under the faucet before gently wiping at the blood on Tyler’s face. 

He had cleaned Tyler’s cheeks and his nose and had begun working on his lip before Tyler finally lifted his eyes again. Josh paused for a second, smiling sadly at Tyler before dabbing at his lip a few more times as Tyler’s dark eyes remained fixed on his face. He wiped off the blood that had dried on his neck, chest, and arm, and stood up off the edge of the tub, tossing the now-pink washcloth into the sink before kneeling back down in front of Tyler. “Do you think you can walk, or not yet?” he asked, brushing his fingers across Tyler’s arm carefully. Tyler shook his head, a single jerk, and clenched his shaking arms more tightly around himself. 

Josh nodded, standing and gathering Tyler back up, carrying the smaller boy to his room and setting him gently on his bed. “I’ll be right back,” he promised, leaving the room and returning a few minutes later with two small plastic bags filled with ice. He set them on the dresser and crossed the room to his closet, pulling out three faded band t-shirts, threadbare and worn to softness. 

He helped Tyler pull one over his head, smiling softly at the extra fabric that hung off his smaller shoulders. He wrapped the other two shirts around the bags of ice, walking back to the bed and resituating Tyler so that Tyler’s head rested in his lap. “For that knot,” he explained quietly, pressing the first homemade icepack to the lump on Tyler’s head gently, “and your eye,” he finished, resting the other one against his swollen eye. “Hopefully it won’t swell shut,” Josh mused quietly, watching as Tyler’s other eye fluttered closed as he sighed. 

They sat silently, Josh’s thumb brushing across Tyler’s hair absently, holding the icepacks to his skin, watching his fingers tremble. After a while, Josh set the icepacks aside and just stroked Tyler’s forehead, brushing the hair back off of his cool skin. Tyler’s eyes stayed closed, and Josh wasn’t sure if he was asleep or awake, but he hoped the former. 

His eyes traced Tyler’s marked skin, and he felt them fill with sudden tears at the sight. He blinked rapidly, trying to stop them from falling on Tyler’s face. He couldn’t understand, couldn’t _fathom_ how anyone could hurt the beautiful boy in front of him. Josh had never known anyone as gentle, as sweet, as forgiving as Tyler. He swallowed hard, silently promising himself that he would fix this, he _had to_ fix this. _Tyler got hurt because of you,_ he berated himself silently. _This would never have happened if you were there to protect him like you should have been._

His phone buzzed in his pocket, interrupting his spiraling thoughts. He shifted slightly, careful not to disturb Tyler, pulling it out to read the message. It was Alex, asking about Tyler. Josh narrowed his eyes and quickly typed out a message, setting his phone down gently on the bed beside him and going back to stroking Tyler’s cheek gently as he waited for the other two boys to arrive. 

\--

Tyler hadn’t moved by the time the other two boys arrived, his breathing slow and deep with sleep. When Jack and Alex appeared in the doorway, Josh gently shifted Tyler’s head from his lap to a pillow, careful not to wake him. He stood and walked into the hall with his teammates, closing the door softly behind him. 

His eyes were fierce when he fixed his gaze on his teammates, a striking contrast to his gentle movements only seconds before. “It’s early,” Josh said flatly, his eyes scanning Jack’s face, and then Alex’s, “Why are you here already?”

Jack shifted, made uncomfortable by the rage barely hidden in Josh’s eyes. “We couldn’t do many drills without you, so coach let us go. They’re running special teams drills instead.” 

Josh nodded once, short. “So they’re still at the field,” he stated, rather than asked. 

“Maybe, but Josh-” Alex began, reaching forward to lay a hand on his friend’s arm. Josh cut him off, jerking back from his hand. 

“Stay with him. Don’t wake him, but take care of him if he wakes up on his own. Get him whatever he needs. _Anything._ I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going, Josh?” Alex asked, biting his lip as he searched his friend’s face. Jack seemed just as concerned next to him. 

“I need to take care of something,” Josh said simply.

Alex looked apprehensive. “Okay, Josh, but don’t you think it would be better if one of us-”

“I’ll be back later,” Josh interrupted, his voice firm, and he pushed past the two boys and headed down the stairs before they could question him further. Jack and Alex exchanged worried looks before opening the door to Josh’s room and slipping back inside to watch over Tyler like he had asked. 

\--

Josh made it to the practice field just as the rest of the team was finishing their final plays of the afternoon. He didn’t go out to the field, opting instead to remain under the bleachers, eyes fixed on the locker room door. He knew from years of playing with the same teammates that the three he wanted to see were often the last ones out of the locker room at night, and as he watched his teammates and coach trickle out to their cars and leave the field, his assumption was proven to be correct. 

Once Josh watched the last person shut his car door, he slipped from his spot under the bleachers and entered the locker room, closing the door quietly behind him. He could already hear the boys’ voices and laughter echoing around the small room. His stomach twisted, the rage swirling in his gut only burning hotter at the sound. 

He rounded the corner into the open space of the changing area and saw exactly who he had hoped to see. Their backs were to him, and they were alone, laughing and joking about something that Josh couldn’t hear over the sound of his blood boiling in his ears. He forced himself to remain calm, opting to lean against the wall behind them and speak softly instead of screaming. “How was practice?” he asked, a spark of dark amusement shooting through him at the sight of the three of them whirling around to face him in unison, the color draining slightly from their faces. 

“Uh, hey Josh,” Matt said quickly, glancing to the side at Dylan at lightning speed, as if to affirm he was still beside him, still watching his back. The tension in the room was immediately palpable. “Where were you? We missed you at practice today. Coach said there was an emergency?”

Josh scoffed aloud at his attempt at feigning innocence. He took a step forward off the wall, observing the slightly panicked look Jeremy shot at the side of Matt’s head. Matt’s face got slightly paler at Josh’s response, but still he leaned toward Josh, puffing his chest out slightly. Josh would have laughed at the other boy’s attempt to intimidate him if he didn’t still feel the white hot fury licking at his insides at the sight of their faces. Still, he had to be sure before he made a move. 

Josh’s eyes scanned over his three teammates, taking in the scrapes on Matt’s and Jeremy’s knuckles, the dark smudges under Dylan’s fingernails that looked suspiciously like blood, the tiny dark drops of _something_ near the bottoms of their practice shirts. His fists clenched at his sides, his entire body tensing. _Blood,_ that was _blood,_ that was _Tyler’s blood_. “I think you know exactly where I was today,” he hissed, stepping closer to the three of them as his feigned cool slid away from him. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think you would _get away with this?”_

Matt’s mask of innocence slipped from his face as well, and he crossed his arms across his chest, staring menacingly at Josh. “Why are you here, Josh?” he asked, as Dylan and Jeremy moved slightly closer to him slowly. “What happened to you, man? You used to _give a shit_ about this. Football was your life, just like it’s ours. Now you don’t care about anything but _him.”_ Matt’s face twisted in disgust at the mention of Tyler, and Josh saw red around the edges of his vision. 

“Don't you dare say another word about him,” Josh whispered, his voice like ice. 

Matt scoffed. “Josh, come on. _Why?_ Why him? He's just a little fa-” His words were cut off sharply by Josh slamming a fist into his nose. Matt recoiled, blood immediately beginning to pour from his nose. He held his hand over it, but didn’t back down, rounding back on Josh with a snarl. 

“What do you think you’re going to do, Josh?” he hissed. “There are three of us. You’re way outnumbered. We’ll kick your ass just like we kicked your little boyfriend’s.” Matt’s words were fierce, but Jeremy looked hesitant, glancing between his friend and his quarterback, seemingly frozen in indecision. Dylan wore a similar look of confusion. Josh cracked his knuckles and stepped forward to make the decision for them. 

\--

Ten minutes later, Josh strode out of the locker room, letting the door slam shut hard behind him. His last words to the boys still echoed in his ears. _If you ever come near him again, I swear that next time, I won’t stop._

He walked calmly to his car and got in, passing the three cars that were still parked in the lot and driving straight back to his house without stopping, nothing but Tyler on his mind. 

\--

Josh observed both Jack and Alex breathing heavy sighs of relief when they saw him open his bedroom door quietly. Alex’s face quickly morphed into something a little more like shock when he took in Josh’s appearance. Josh ignored him and his obvious questions, walking over to the bed to check on Tyler. He knew he hadn’t been gone long, and Tyler was still asleep, breathing shallowly but steadily. He looked peaceful, except for the ugly color of the skin around his eye and the way that his forehead wrinkled slightly, as if he was in pain. Josh breathed in and out, counting the inhales and exhales, and smoothed Tyler’s hair off of his forehead gently. He didn’t stir. 

Alex appeared at Josh’s side and tugged on his arm, looking thoroughly unamused. Josh rolled his eyes and allowed his friend to tug him away from the bed and into the hallway, Jack following closely behind. 

As soon as the door shut, Alex grabbed Josh by both shoulders and stared hard at his face. “What did you do?” he demanded, looking like he wanted to shake Josh but restraining himself. 

Josh sighed impatiently, pulling Alex’s hands off of his shoulders. “I told you, I had to take care of something,” he replied, irritation dripping from his voice. 

“ _Take care of something?_ Josh, _look at you!_ Look at your hands! And is that _blood_ on your shirt?!”

Josh resisted the urge to roll his eyes in Alex’s face. 

“Josh, we’re just concerned, man. What happened?” Jack asked softly, setting a hand on Alex’s arm to pacify his friend. 

Josh sighed, running a hand through his hair roughly. He was aware that he was barely hanging on to his control, his behavior since this afternoon erratic and entirely unlike him. He took another deep breath, counting to 7 on both the inhale and the exhale. “I had to stop them,” he said, his voice slightly calmer now. “I couldn’t let them get away with this.”

“Josh, what did you do?” Jack repeated patiently. Josh let the cuts on his knuckles and the blood on his shirt speak for him. Jack sighed, exchanging glances with Alex. “Josh…” he began, before Josh interrupted. 

“I can’t get it out of my head,” he said quietly. 

Alex looked concerned again. “Get what out of your head, Josh?” he asked, seeming calmer now than when Josh had first arrived. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I see him lying there like that. I see his face. I see- god, there was so much blood, he wouldn’t stop _bleeding-_ ” He stopped, took another deep breath, twisting his fingers in his hair and tugging slightly. “I had to do something. Something to get them to stay away from him. To show them that they couldn’t mess with him anymore. I know, I shouldn’t have done it. They’re my teammates, it’s going to make practice weird, they’ll probably never work with me the same way again, and-” 

“Josh,” Alex said firmly, cutting him off before he worked himself up again, “None of that matters. It doesn’t matter, okay? It’s just football, man. They’re just games.” Jack nodded his head firmly, just as sure as Alex. Josh exhaled shakily, feeling the adrenaline slowly seeping from his body, leaving him unsteady. 

“I should have been there,” he whispered, too low for the other boys to catch. 

“What?” Jack asked him, leaning forward slightly. 

“I should have _been there,_ ” Josh repeated louder, his voice wavering, cracking, “I should have been with him. I should have protected him. This is all my fault; they never would have touched him if it wasn’t for me. I caused all of this, and I wasn’t there to protect him. I wasn’t _there,_ and now he’s _hurt_ and _scared_ and it’s _all_ because of me.” Josh’s voice had swelled louder through his tirade, but now, all of the energy rushed out of him like a balloon deflating. He unclenched his fists, relaxed his muscles, and let his arms hang loosely by his sides. He looked smaller like this, not at all like the strong, capable, decisive quarterback Jack and Alex were used to dealing with. “I let him down, guys,” Josh whispered, his eyes dropping to the floor. “He needed me, and I wasn’t there with him.”

Jack didn’t speak, just stepped forward and pulled Josh into a tight hug. Josh was surprised at the sudden affection from his friend, but he hugged him back after a beat, appreciating the gesture. “Go be with him now,” Jack said quietly when he released Josh. 

Josh’s eyes shifted to Alex, who nodded in agreement. “This isn’t your fault, Josh. But he still needs you now,” he said gently. 

Josh nodded, scrubbing his fists over his eyes to snap himself out of it. He vaguely registered the ache in his hands, held off until now by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. “Thank you,” he said quietly, looking at each of his friends in turn. “I don’t think I even said that. Thank you for finding him, for helping.”

They both nodded, and an easy smile spread across Alex’s face. “He’s our friend, Josh,” he said, and Josh was almost able to smile himself at that. 

“We’ll see you Monday,” Jack said, reaching out to squeeze Josh’s shoulder once more. “Let us know if you need anything before then, okay? We’ll be around.” Josh nodded, walking his friends down to the door. 

He returned quickly to his room and opened the door quietly, glancing in to check on Tyler. He didn’t seem to have moved, so Josh slipped the door shut again, walking to the bathroom to clean himself up. He pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the floor, mentally considering how exactly he would get the blood out of the fabric. He eyed his hands, sighing audibly at the cuts and scrapes on his knuckles. Blood still oozed out of some of them, so Josh turned on the sink, testing the temperature with his fingers before he stuck his hand under it, scrubbing lightly at the abused skin to wash the blood off. 

“Josh?” 

Josh spun around quickly, surprised to see Tyler leaning against the doorframe. Although he was glad to see his boyfriend upright and mobile, the bruises on his skin were still angry and getting darker, and he looked smaller even than normal, hunched in on himself in Josh’s oversized t-shirt, arms wrapped cautiously around his stomach, half his body hidden by the doorframe. A single pronounced ache shot through Josh’s chest. 

“Hey, Ty,” he said softly, forgetting about the water running behind him for the time being, sliding his bloody shirt between the sink and the toilet with his foot. 

“What are you doing?” Tyler asked, shuffling a little bit closer to the sink, trying to get a better look. 

Josh winced, considering an attempt to hide his hands as well, but it was too late. Tyler reached forward gently and touched Josh’s wrist, his eyes on his hands instead of his face. “What happened?” he asked softly. 

Josh exhaled slowly and finished scraping his hands clean, turning off the water carefully before grabbing a towel. “It’s nothing, Ty. Everything’s okay, baby,” he said soothingly, drying his hands carefully, obstructing Tyler’s view of his mangled skin with the towel. 

Tyler wasn’t having it. His gentle hand pulled the towel from Josh’s grip before he knew what was happening. “What happened to your hands?” he repeated, eyes on Josh’s face this time, despite one being almost swollen shut. 

Josh softened, his heart aching for the boy in front of him. “It’s okay, Ty. I’m okay. I just had to take care of something. Everything is alright now,” he said, reaching up to cup Tyler’s cheek gently. “How do you feel?” 

Tyler snorted, then winced at the pain it caused in his face. His calm demeanor cracked, just a little. “Everything hurts, Josh,” he whispered. Josh felt his heart break again. 

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed. You should rest, especially after hitting your head.” Josh’s fingers ran carefully over the knot on the back of Tyler’s skull, inspecting him. Satisfied that nothing dramatic and terrible had happened since his last check, he nodded, setting his hand gently on Tyler’s lower back and helping him walk back to his bedroom. Tyler looked unwilling to let his questions about Josh’s condition go, but he leaned on his boyfriend and allowed himself to be led back to the comfort of his bed. 

“Do you need anything, Ty?” Josh asked quietly as he helped Tyler get re-situated on the bed. 

Tyler shook his head, laying back against the pillows with a shaky exhale. He stared up at Josh, looking conflicted. “Please stay with me?” he asked. As if he thought he _had to_ ask. 

Josh pulled a loose tank top from his closet and tugged it over his head before he settled on the bed beside Tyler, pulling him to rest on his chest. They lay quietly for a long while, Josh’s inner voice running a track full of guilty words over and over as he rubbed small, light circles in Tyler’s back with his hand. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“I’m so sorry, Tyler,” he whispered, breaking the calm silence that had descended over them. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there. This would never have happened if it wasn’t for me. I know that. I’m so sorry.”

Tyler didn’t speak for a long while, raising his chin to stare incredulously at Josh. Josh almost started to squirm physically under the weight of his gaze, waiting for him to make a move, terrified of what that move might be. His heart was beating furiously as he stared back into Tyler’s eyes, his own wide and anxious and guilty. Finally, Tyler did move, but not to speak. He surged forward with a speed that surprised Josh, given his current condition, and pressed his lips to Josh’s fiercely. 

Josh choked a little in surprise but recovered quickly, cupping the back of Tyler’s head gently to keep their lips together for as long as he could. Tyler broke away but kept his face pressed close to Josh’s, smashing his forehead against Josh’s mouth and chin in a position that couldn’t have been comfortable on his injuries. “It isn’t your fault, Josh,” he whispered, pressing himself as close as he could get, as if he wanted to crawl inside Josh’s skin with him. “None of this is your fault. Please don’t say that. You didn’t cause this.”

Josh hugged him just as fiercely, pressing kisses against any piece of skin he could reach with Tyler’s face smushed up against his. He blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over; he felt himself crashing hard from the adrenaline high he had been running on since he first heard Jack’s voice on the phone that afternoon. It felt like years ago already, and the weight of everything that had happened threatened to crush him. 

They stayed like that until Josh had lost count of the minutes, just breathing each other in, the constant pressure of the other’s body against theirs a reminder that they were both still there, that they were both okay. Finally, Tyler pulled back a little in Josh’s arms, exhaling shakily. 

“What happened to your hands?” he asked again, his dark eyes calmly fixed on Josh’s through the bruised, discolored skin surrounding them. 

Josh sighed, unwrapping his arms from around Tyler so he could look at him more easily. “Tyler, I had to take care of it,” he whispered, staring helplessly at his boyfriend, taking in his condition once again as his eyes swept over his body. “I couldn’t let them get away with what they did to you.. I had to make sure they wouldn’t do it again. Not ever.”

Tyler gasped, staring at Josh with wide eyes. “What did you do, Josh?” he asked, his voice small and choked. 

“I went to confront them,” Josh responded, running a hand through his hair haphazardly. “I had to, Tyler, I just wanted to see if they really did it, and when I saw them I just-” he stopped quickly, cutting himself off at the look on Tyler’s face. 

“You just what, Josh?” Tyler prompted softly. 

“I just snapped,” Josh whispered, his eyes pleading with Tyler. “I couldn’t just look at them and hear what they said, knowing that they hurt you, and just let them go. I… I had to hurt them back.” 

Tyler leaned almost imperceptibly away from Josh, his face twisted into some unreadable expression. Josh felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him; he reached his hand out for Tyler, almost without thinking, his eyes wide and pleading with the smaller boy to understand. His mind ran through a million scenarios to explain this sudden reaction; Tyler hated him, Tyler was angry at him for resorting to violence, Tyler was _afraid of him._

Tyler took a deep breath, the sound bringing Josh crashing back to the present. He was surprised to feel tears in his eyes again, unsure of how they’d arisen and threatened to spill over so quickly. “Josh, how could you do that?” Tyler whispered, eyes on the sheets, on the floor, anywhere but Josh’s face. 

Josh’s throat closed. “Tyler, I-” He tried to choke out some sort of explanation, desperate to have the other boy crawl back in his arms again instead of moving away from him like he couldn’t stand to be near him. 

“Josh, those guys were football players, your teammates! What are you going to do now?” Tyler demanded, his voice louder now, angry, and Josh just blinked at him, unable to respond. “How are you going to play with them now? What’s going to happen to your team? You love football, Josh. How could you do something that might have messed that up?”

“Tyler?” Josh asked, thoroughly confused at the turn Tyler’s outburst had taken. His mind was whirring, trying to figure out exactly what had caused his boyfriend to react this way. 

Tyler fixed his eyes on Josh’s face again, glaring so harshly at him that Josh almost recoiled physically, and then promptly burst into tears. Josh stared, mouth open, at the other boy for a few seconds before quickly pulling him back into his arms. “Ty, what is it? What?” he asked desperately, “Tell me what’s wrong. Please.” 

Tyler pushed his way out of Josh’s embrace, tears still running down his cheeks. “What if you had gotten hurt too?” he whispered finally, and Josh understood. 

“Oh Ty,” he whispered, reaching out tentatively for his boyfriend again, relief flooding his entire body when Tyler folded himself into his lap. “I’m okay, baby. It’s okay. They didn’t hurt me.”

Josh felt him shaking, just a little, and he tightened his arms around him, careful not to hurt his abused body. “It’s okay,” he repeated, “I had to make sure that nothing like this will ever happen to you again. And it won’t, baby. It won’t ever again. I’ll make sure of it.”

Tyler nodded, but made no move to remove himself from Josh’s lap. His tears were beginning to subside. “And I don’t care about them or about football, Tyler. They can do whatever they have to do now that this happened. They should be kicked off the team anyway; they should be expelled. But I don’t care,” he explained softly, “I care about you.” 

Tyler sniffed, just a little. “Are your hands okay?” he whispered finally, reaching for one of his hands to pet Josh’s knuckles carefully. Josh smiled, maybe the first one since Jack called him hours before. 

“My hands and all the other parts of me are fine. Let me take care of you.”

\--

Tyler stayed at Josh’s house for the remainder of the weekend, not yet ready to face his parents in person in his current condition. They spent the days mostly in bed, relaxing and recovering. Tyler slept with Josh’s arms tight around him every night, and he wondered why he ever thought _anything_ other than this would happen. 

\--

Before either boy was fully ready, Monday morning arrived. Tyler’s injuries had healed some, allowing him to be mobile enough to go back to school for the day, but his outer appearance was a different story. The swelling in his eye had gone down enough for him to see again, but the skin around it had faded to a dark, sickly purple and green pattern. The scratches on his cheeks and arms had scabbed over, and the knot on his head had reduced in size, but his torso was still a painted canvas of red, purple, and green. 

Internally, Tyler was still shaken. Josh had felt his palpable nervousness already when Tyler had left to go back to his own house and face his parents Sunday night. Josh had done his best to calm his boyfriend before sending him in, but Tyler still clung to him for just a few seconds too long when Josh dropped him off, face pale as he pulled away and hurried inside. 

In the mad dash between when Tyler finally convinced himself to get out of bed and when he had to leave to make it to school on time, he was surprised to receive a text from Josh. Normally, the quarterback went to early morning weights with some of his teammates before school, so Tyler rarely saw or heard from him before lunchtime, as their only class together was their second-to-last-period science class, and Josh had a busy class schedule like Tyler did. Even a short text in the morning was strange for them, especially before school had even started. Tyler double checked the time: 7:44 am. Normally, Josh would probably be showering in the gym at about this time, getting ready to head to the main building for his first class. 

_Ready to go?_

Tyler read the message silently, scrunching up his face in confusion. The anxiety surrounding his return to school was clouding his head, and he couldn’t grasp what Josh was trying to convey, no matter how hard he tried. He slipped the phone into his pocket and snagged his backpack, heading toward the door with a plan to answer Josh once he got to school. He wanted to ensure that he had plenty of time to get safely to his first class while the halls were still plenty crowded. 

Tyler was significantly more shocked when he swung open his front door and saw Josh standing on his porch, his car parked behind Tyler’s in the driveway. Josh had been squinting at his phone before Tyler came out, but when he heard the door open, he looked up and flashed Tyler a blinding smile. Tyler felt the vice grip around his lungs loosen, just a little bit. 

“Josh?” he asked dumbly, still standing in the doorway, holding the doorknob in his hand, “What are you doing here?” 

“I brought you a donut,” Josh said by way of explanation, holding out the bag in his hand to Tyler. “Come on, we’re going to be late if we don’t go soon.” Josh grabbed Tyler’s backpack that he hadn’t even managed to sling over his shoulder yet and hoisted it over his own. He slipped his hand into Tyler’s free one, pulling him toward his car. Tyler allowed himself to be led, still confused even as Josh shut his door and rounded the front of the car to climb into the driver’s seat. 

“How did the talk with your parents go last night?” Josh asked as he pulled out of the driveway, one hand resting lightly on Tyler’s knee. 

Tyler sighed, feeling the nerves churn his stomach again. “I didn’t do it,” he said quietly, staring out the passenger window, “I couldn’t. I just ran up to my room as soon as I got inside, and they were already gone this morning when I came downstairs. They still haven’t seen me.” 

Josh squeezed his knee comfortingly, eyes on the road in front of him. “Do you want me to come with you tonight to talk to them? I don’t mind, Ty, really.”

“Maybe,” Tyler mumbled, his stomach acid still threatening to crawl its way up his throat. Josh nodded and hummed along to the song playing softly on the radio. They drove in silence for a few minutes, and Tyler’s thoughts were racing. He glimpsed his face in the rearview mirror and shuddered, dreading the stares and whispers he would be faced with all day. 

Josh’s hand moved from his knee to his wrist, interrupting Tyler’s dark train of thought. “Eat, babe,” he murmured, nudging the donut bag still clenched in Tyler’s hand with his finger. Tyler exhaled a long, deep breath and nodded, opening the bag and taking a few small bites of the donut. Josh seemed satisfied, returning his hand to Tyler’s knee as he drove on. 

Tyler finished the donut and licked a bit of frosting off one of his fingers, feeling a little less like his internal organs were going to crawl out his mouth. Josh was right, of course he was. With his head a little clearer, Josh’s sudden appearance seemed strange again, and Tyler frowned, considering. “Josh, not that I’m not glad to see you, but why’re you here?” 

Josh slid his eyes to Tyler’s face briefly, smiling that bright smile at him again. “I’m just picking up my boyfriend to take him to school,” he said easily, squeezing Tyler’s knee again. 

Tyler wasn’t having it, his frown deepening. “But what about weights?” he persisted. 

Josh laughed, removing his hand from Tyler’s leg and raising it between them, flexing his defined bicep and winking at Tyler. “I think I can stand to skip a day, don’t you?” he asked with a small smirk. Tyler rolled his eyes and sighed, giving up the line of questioning. He grabbed Josh’s hand and rested it back on his knee without a word. Josh gave his leg another light squeeze, smiling to himself the rest of the way to school. 

As they pulled into the parking lot, Tyler’s anxiety rose again in full force. Josh parked and climbed out, but Tyler remained in the passenger seat with his hand on the door handle, unable to bring himself to open it. Josh pulled their backpacks and his practice bag out of the backseat and threw them all over one broad shoulder before walking around to Tyler’s side of the car. He eased the door open carefully, squatting down between Tyler in the car and everything that waited outside of it. 

Tyler finally met Josh’s eyes, and Josh took note of his pale face, red eyes, and trembling hands. He smiled reassuringly at Tyler, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Come on babe, we’ve got to get inside or we’ll be late,” he said, standing up and reaching his hand out to help Tyler out of the car. Tyler followed, but he still looked frightened and tense, like he was preparing to be pounced on at any second. His palpable anxiety tugged at Josh’s heart a little, and he watched Tyler carefully as he shut the car door softly and took a deep breath before turning around. 

The school loomed huge in front of him, and even though it was the same building he’d been walking to every day for the past three and a half years, he felt almost lightheaded at the thought of going inside again. He longed to hold onto Josh, to lean on him and let him calm him, but the two boys were not particularly public about their relationship, and they tended to keep a low profile at school, so Tyler didn’t dare. 

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Josh surprised him again by stepping closer to Tyler and slipping his hand into his, linking their fingers together as they walked toward the doors. Tyler’s head whipped around to stare at Josh in shock, but Josh just faced the school, squeezing Tyler’s trembling hand lightly. Tyler felt a rush of gratitude for his boyfriend flow over him. He didn’t know how he would have made it inside without Josh. He bit his lip, frowning when he thought about facing the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon without his boyfriend. 

Tyler’s first class was in one of the first rooms inside the doors, but Josh’s was down the hall in the opposite direction. When they walked through the entrance to the school, Tyler prepared to pull his hand out of Josh’s grip for them to separate, already missing the safety and comfort of Josh’s much larger hand in his. He was surprised for a third time when Josh held fast to his hand, turning down the hall in the direction of Tyler’s classroom. 

They managed to avoid the stares of most of the still-sleepy students in the halls, a fact for which Tyler was quite grateful. When they reached his classroom, they stopped outside the door, and Josh squeezed Tyler’s hand lightly once more. “I’ll see you later, Ty, okay?” he said, smiling softly, reassuringly, at Tyler. Tyler nodded tightly, not quite able to force his lips into a smile back at his boyfriend. His confusion at Josh’s strange behavior just added to the fog of anxiety and dread already swirling in his mind, and he walked into the classroom, the first wide-eyed glances cementing his lack of hope that he’d make it through the rest of the day without incident. 

\--

Tyler quickly realized that Josh’s bewildering behavior was the theme of the day. When Tyler left his first class, Josh was outside the door, still smiling that blinding, knee-weakening smile at him, seemingly unflustered by Tyler’s confusion at his change. Josh just kept up a constant stream of chatter about his day as he walked with Tyler to each of his classes, their fingers interlocked. 

By the end of his third class, Tyler had started to feel the heads turning in their direction in the halls like a slap, the harsh whispers that were never quite soft enough to not reach his ears like screams. He felt his apprehension growing throughout the day, the tension in his muscles nearly unbearable after only a few hours in the building. Although Josh seemed determined to do everything he could to distract Tyler from the others, he couldn’t help but feel immensely guilty for what holding Tyler’s hand in the hallways must be doing to Josh’s reputation, his standing with his teammates and the rest of the student body. Tyler was sure that there was a reason they had kept a low profile about their relationship while at school in the past, despite never actually discussing the fact with Josh, and he felt an uncomfortable twisting in his stomach whenever someone’s eyes widened when they scanned over the two boys together. 

He was barely holding himself together as Josh walked beside him on the way to his fourth class. The static in his brain had risen to deafening levels, and he could barely focus on Josh’s story about his teacher’s joke in his third period lecture. His mind was so hazy that he almost didn’t recognize the three boys from Friday as they rounded a corner and walked down the hall toward him. 

Almost.

Tyler did recognize them, though, although maybe not in enough time. Immediately, he stopped dead, his chest collapsing on itself, his head borderline exploding. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears, and he couldn’t get air, couldn’t take a deep breath. For a brief, sick second, he wondered if he would just pass out and escape the moment altogether. 

Josh noticed Tyler stop and glanced back at him, concern immediately showing in his warm, dark eyes. He saw Tyler’s stricken face and rapid breathing and immediately turned to follow his gaze, his body tensing when he saw that he was staring in fear at Matt, Jeremy, and Dylan. The three boys were with four others from the football team, huddled in a group and snickering to themselves, eyes on the pair down the hall. Josh felt a sort of sick satisfaction course through him at the sight of the bruises and black eyes three of them were sporting, but it wasn’t enough to quell the fire in his stomach at the sight of them laughing with his other teammates. 

Josh was fairly introverted and laid back almost to a fault, and the combination meant that he wasn’t big on sharing personal things with people he wasn’t incredibly close to. As a result, most of his team was unaware of his relationship with Tyler, or so he had thought. He had been sure that only Alex and Jack knew until Friday, when the three boys in front of him showed him with no room for uncertainty that his easygoing attitude toward these things didn’t put him as far under everyone’s radar as he had assumed. 

Josh came back to the present with almost crushing speed when he felt Tyler tug his hand out of his, carefully shoving it into his pocket and staring at the floor. Josh looked carefully at him, thoroughly confused about Tyler’s actions, until he heard him mumble something out of the corner of his mouth. “What?” Josh asked him quietly, leaning closer to listen. 

“It’s okay, Josh,” Tyler whispered, “I don’t want your team to give you shit about this. It’s fine. I’m okay. I’ll walk behind you.” 

Josh stared at him with something akin to wonder, unable to formulate an acceptable response to Tyler’s words, but he was interrupted by not-quiet-enough whispers from the group of football players down the hall. Josh couldn’t catch everything, but he heard strains of the conversation; one of the players asked Matt what Josh was doing with Tyler, and Josh caught just enough of Matt’s response and his joke about Tyler’s injuries to feel the rage boiling in his stomach again. He heard Tyler whimper quietly behind him and knew that his boyfriend must have heard it too, and he growled low in his throat. He reached over and slid his arm around Tyler’s shoulders, tucking the smaller boy under his arm protectively. Tyler stared at him, panic all over his face, but Josh didn’t relent, heading directly past his teammates in the direction of Tyler’s classroom. Tyler worried for the second time in two minutes whether he would faint. 

Josh stared his teammates down the entire way down the hall, his arm tight around Tyler’s shoulders. He felt the eyes on him, and not only from the group of boys in front of him, but he persisted. 

One of the boys broke as Josh walked directly in front of them. “Hey, Josh,” he said weakly, shrinking a little under the quarterback’s fierce gaze. 

“Oh, hey guys,” Josh said casually, his rage barely disguised. “Oh, do you guys know Tyler? He’s my boyfriend.” Tyler squeaked beside him, whipping his head around to stare at Josh’s face again. Josh’s voice came out a little louder than objectively necessary, and he heard the results in the whispers of the other students in the hall, but he was unshakeable, staring at his teammates as if daring them to say anything negative in response. 

When he thought they looked sufficiently remorseful, avoiding his eyes in favor of staring at their feet, Josh finally pulled his glare off of his teammates. “Anyway, we have to get to class, see you guys later,” he said calmly, locking eyes with Matt as he continued past the group. “Matt, that eye looks rough, man, you may want to get that looked at… wouldn’t want it to get worse.” His voice was steel, it was ice, and the barely-perceptible widening of Matt’s eyes told him that he had received the message loud and clear. Satisfied, Josh squeezed Tyler’s shoulder lightly and continued down the hall, keeping his arm tight around his boyfriend’s shoulders. 

“Josh.” Tyler gripped his arm, pulling him to a halt once they were far enough away from the group of boys. Josh tilted his head to the side a little, listening, his eyes warmer than Tyler expected. “Why did you do that?” Tyler asked desperately, reaching up a hand to run his fingers haphazardly through his own hair. 

“Do what, Ty, introduce you to them?” Josh asked, still not quite following Tyler’s panicked logic. 

“Introduce me as your _boyfriend,_ Josh,” Tyler exclaimed. “You shouldn’t have done that; you know how people are going to react. I was fine with not saying anything, I understand why you did it.”

Finally, Tyler’s comment about walking behind him from before caught up to Josh’s brain, and everything clicked. He felt a chuckle bubbling out his mouth. Tyler dropped his hand from his head, thoroughly confused now that Josh was laughing. “Josh, what?” he asked slowly, staring carefully at his boyfriend’s face. 

Josh shook his head once, looking up and smiling so wide at Tyler that he felt his heart clench and his knees go a little weak. “Tyler,” Josh asked, still smiling, “did you think you were a secret? Did you think _we_ were a secret?”

“Well… yeah,” Tyler said, confusion growing by the second. “Because of football. And your reputation around here. I mean, you’re the _quarterback,_ Josh. That’s as big as it gets in high school. We never talked about it, but. I understood, Josh, I was okay with it.”

Josh shook his head again, pulling Tyler into an unexpected hug, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek in the middle of the hallway. Tyler’s cheeks were on fire. “You were never a secret, baby,” Josh said sweetly, “I’ve never cared who knew we were together. I’ve never cared what anyone else thought about it. Not once.” 

Tyler gaped at him, cheeks aflame and eyes wide, and Josh laughed again, taking his hand and heading toward Tyler’s classroom. “Come on, you’ll be late.” 

\--

By the end of the day, despite Josh’s sweet words and almost constant presence, Tyler was exhausted. He felt like a live wire, rubbed raw by the whispers and the stares he had been subjected to all day long. He was barely stumbling along by the time the final bell rang at the end of the day. 

Josh was waiting outside his last class again, and he insisted on driving Tyler home, ignoring Tyler’s protests about his chances of being late for football practice and scoffing at his insistence that he could walk home instead. He pressed a soft kiss to Tyler’s lips when he dropped him off at home, promising in a whisper to text him as soon as he was finished with practice. Tyler went inside with scarlet cheeks and a distant wonder at what had gotten into his boyfriend all of a sudden. 

The rest of the week passed in a similar fashion. Josh was always at Tyler’s front door by 7:45, with breakfast, to drive them to school, and he walked Tyler to all of his classes with a gentle hand in his or a soft arm around him and a seemingly endless supply of blinding smiles and funny stories from his own classes.

By Friday, Tyler had started to grow wise to Josh’s motives. Throughout the week, Tyler had watched him stare down everyone who even looked twice at the boys in the halls, felt his arm tighten around his waist or shoulders if someone dared to make a snide comment a little too loudly. In fact, Tyler had realized midway through the week, even as his bruises and cuts began to heal and fade, that whenever they were together, Josh was never _not_ touching him: a hand resting comfortably on his lower back at lunch, an arm slung around him in the halls, fingers laced with his or a resting lightly on his knee in the car. Although Tyler had begun to catch on by Wednesday, a final incident on Friday afternoon cemented what Josh had been up to all week in Tyler’s mind. 

Tyler met Josh outside his last class of the day. He expected his boyfriend to be waiting by this point in the week, and he smiled shyly at Josh as he exited the classroom. Josh smiled widely back at him, and Tyler took a second to admire him as he walked over to join him. It was Friday, and there was a football game that night, so Josh was dressed in his white football jersey with a pair of black jeans. His dark hair was messy, and Tyler could just picture him running his hands through it in that slightly anxious way he knew he did sometimes, pulling it up and out of place throughout the day. He had his backpack slung casually over one shoulder, and the smile he gave Tyler made him a little weak in the knees for what felt like the millionth time. He was beautiful. Tyler smiled wider, crossing the hallway to join him. “Hey, killer,” he joked, knocking his shoulder against Josh’s, “you ready to lead the team to victory and all of that tonight?”

Josh laughed, bumping Tyler back gently, barely a brush against his skin. Although Tyler’s injuries had all-but finished healing, Josh had still been even more cautious than normal with him throughout the week. “You know it,” he responded, falling into step beside Tyler as they started down the hall. 

Tyler was distracted, watching Josh’s eyes shine with laughter and feeling his own heart skip a little at the sight of his boyfriend, truly relaxed and happy for what Tyler thought had to be the first time in a week. But because he was distracted, he didn’t see what Josh saw, didn’t know what was happening until the smile suddenly fell from Josh’s face as he shifted his eyes back to the hallway in front of them. Tyler barely had time to register the fact that Josh hadn’t already been holding onto him before Josh was shifting his backpack to his other arm and stepping to the other side of Tyler, curling his arm around his shoulders to draw him in closer to Josh’s side. Tyler was sure his confusion showed on his face as he looked at Josh, watching his jaw set and feeling his body tense even as he darted to Tyler’s other side. Tyler opened his mouth to ask what had gotten into Josh to change his entire demeanor so quickly, but the question died on his lips as he looked toward the end of the hall himself. 

Matt and Jeremy were approaching them from down the mostly empty hall. Although the football players carefully avoided eye contact with either boy as they passed, Tyler could feel Josh’s anger radiating off of him, his entire body screaming it, and he was sure that his teammates could feel it too. 

As the football players passed the couple, Tyler’s shoe caught the edge of a book left on the floor in front of a locker, and he tripped, falling out of Josh’s grip. “Ty!” Josh cried, whirling around immediately, eyes on Matt and Jeremy even as they continued to walk the other direction. He spotted Tyler on the ground and immediately dropped to his knees beside him, laying one hand on his arm. “Are you okay? What happened?” he asked frantically. 

Tyler blinked at him for a few seconds, shocked by his immediate panic. Just before Tyler could ask his boyfriend why he had gotten so upset about a simple stumble, it clicked. 

Tyler’s breath caught in his throat. Josh hadn’t realized that Tyler had fallen, he had been worried that Matt and Jeremy had done something to him behind his back; his face said it all. Suddenly, all of Josh’s behavior for the entire week made perfect sense. The fact that he had been walking Tyler to every class and bringing him to and from school every day, the much more public displays of their relationship status, the fact that Josh was constantly touching him in some way or another no matter where they were. Tyler wanted to smack himself for not realizing it sooner; Josh was _worried_ about him. The week wasn’t Josh being strange, it was Josh looking out for him, being _protective_ of him. Tyler felt a wave of guilt crash over him. He hadn’t realized that his attack wasn’t only still affecting him a week later; it was still affecting Josh too. Suddenly, he saw straight through his boyfriend’s bright smiles and constant chatter throughout the week, remembered the edge of worry in his eyes as he scanned the halls, only fading when he finally set his gaze on Tyler as he came out of his classrooms. He realized the deliberateness of Josh’s movements in the halls throughout the week, intentionally placing himself always between Tyler and any of the people who might give him problems as they walked, the protective arm tight around him to keep him close, to keep him safe if anyone should try to hurt him. He recognized the icy glares at the people who whispered about them for what they were: a clear challenge that to get to Tyler, they would have to go through Josh first. 

Tyler felt his chest tighten as he looked into Josh’s dark, worried eyes. “Ty?” he repeated, cupping Tyler’s cheek and tilting his head up, inspecting him, checking on him. All at once, Tyler felt warm all over, a rush of blinding affection for the boy in front of him nearly stealing his breath. Tyler leaned forward and threw his arms around Josh’s shoulders, pressing his face into his neck and hugging him tightly. Josh made another anxious noise at Tyler’s sudden reaction, still trying to understand what had happened even as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s body. “What, Tyler what? Are you okay? What happened?” he asked again, and Tyler could feel his tension in every part of his body. 

He pulled back and smiled at Josh, who still looked like he wasn’t sure if he should find someone to punch or just smile back. “I just tripped, J, I’m okay,” Tyler said quietly, grabbing his backpack and standing again. He reached out a hand to Josh and pulled him up as well, linking their fingers and squeezing his hand. “Come on, you’ve got to take me home so you can get back here and get ready to win that game tonight.” 

Josh gave a bewildered nod and turned to follow after Tyler toward the exit to the parking lot. Tyler smiled to himself, sighing softly, happily, rubbing his thumb gently across the back of Josh’s hand as they walked. He would need to talk to Josh about what he had just realized, but it could wait until after the game.

\--

Tyler hovered a few feet away from the locker room, shifting his weight anxiously from foot to foot. He tugged his football team t-shirt down self-consciously, his eyes fixed on the locker room door. 

_“Babe, are you sure you want to come to the game?” Josh asked anxiously, his hand on Tyler’s lower back as he stood just inside his front door. “Because you don’t have to. I won’t be upset at all. Actually, it might even be better if you_ don’t _come, after this week and everything.”_

_Tyler quirked an eyebrow, and Josh’s cheeks flushed. “I want you to come! Obviously, of course I want you to come,” he hurried to explain, “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to come if you’re not comfortable with it, and I don’t want you to have to sit by yours-”_

_Tyler cut Josh off by pressing a lingering kiss to his lips. Josh relaxed immediately, curling one hand around the back of Tyler’s neck to keep him close._

_Tyler pulled back after a few long minutes and smiled at his flushed boyfriend. “Of course I’m coming, J, this is one of your last games.”_

_Josh hesitated. “Are you sure, Tyler? You really don’t have to.”_

_“I’m sure,” Tyler said firmly, reaching out to straighten Josh’s jersey on his shoulders. “I’ll be there.”_

_“Okay, Ty. But be careful, okay? Don’t go by yourself.”_

_“I’ll find someone to go with, J. Now get back there and get ready to kick some ass. I’ll see you after the game.”_

Tyler felt more and more anxious as the minutes crawled by. He had thought that surprising Josh to wish him good luck once more when the team exited the locker room for their final warm ups would be a good idea, but the longer he stood in the open, staring at the door, the less sure he felt. 

Finally, the door swung open, and the team began to file out, with Josh near the front of the line. Tyler’s couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he looked at his boyfriend in his full gear, carrying his helmet in his hand. He waved excitedly, trying to catch Josh’s eye as the team walked past him, slowly moving toward the field. 

Josh noticed Tyler’s frantic waving and gave him a small smile, ducking out of the line to take a few steps closer to him. “Hey, Tyler.”

“Hey babe,” Tyler said, smiling brightly at him, “I just wanted to wish you good luck again before the game started.”

“Thanks,” Josh said, glancing toward the field. 

Tyler’s smile faltered just a little, but he recovered quickly. “You ready?” he asked, itching to kiss Josh or hug him or at least _touch_ him for just a second. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of Josh’s teammates kiss his girlfriend passionately, lifting her up off the ground in his arms. He turned quickly away, ignoring the twinge of _something_ in his chest. 

“Yep, all ready,” Josh said, still mostly focusing his eyes on the turf. 

“Okay, well, good luck again! I’ll see you after the game, yeah?” Tyler forced his voice to sound as bright and cheerful as he could, doubts creeping up the back of his throat like claws. 

“Yep, see you after,” Josh responded, turning and jogging the rest of the way to the sideline before Tyler could answer. 

Tyler closed his open mouth and bit his bottom lip, trudging back to his seat in the first row of the bleachers feeling quite a bit heavier than he had when he’d left. He tried unsuccessfully for a few moments to convince himself that he had imagined his boyfriend’s coldness, that Josh was only focused on the upcoming game and not keeping his distance from Tyler. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could not shake the feeling that his boyfriend was trying to avoid being associated too closely with him in this very public setting. Tyler slumped a little further down in his seat, trying to grasp at the feeling he had earlier with Josh when they left school as he turned his attention toward the game that was just beginning. 

\--

The game was phenomenal, just as Tyler had anticipated. This wasn’t the first time he had watched Josh play, but everything felt different to Tyler after the events of the preceding week, and he felt himself being carried away by the energy of the crowd, screaming along with them as the teams traded scores. The game was close, and as the final minutes on the clock wound down, the home team was trailing by 3 points. 

Josh was absolutely electric. Tyler had never seen him play like this before, and he found that he was unable to take his eyes off of his boyfriend as he commanded the field. Josh and his team pushed further and further up the field, and the entire crowd waited with bated breath as the final minutes ticked away. Tyler clenched his fists inside his jacket pockets. His heart raced as he watched Josh gesture to his team, dictating what would surely be the final play of the game. 

An audible buzz ran through the crowd as the ball was snapped. The play was a flurry of movement, and Tyler tried desperately to follow the team with his eyes as the clock ran out. He got lost in the movement, couldn’t locate the ball or even the players he knew, until suddenly, he barely glimpsed a flash of it as Josh, who had apparently kept ahold of the ball throughout the play, launched himself over another player, tumbling into the endzone. 

For just a beat, perfect, breathless silence descended on the stands. Tyler stood on his tiptoes, gripping the fence in front of him, wishing for a split second that he had taken a seat farther up in the stands instead of in the very front so he could just _see_ Josh, be sure that he was getting back up, be sure that he was okay. 

Then, as soon as the silence had begun, the official raised his hands, and the crowd erupted. The sudden roar propelled Tyler forward, and he leaned as far over the fence as he could, his eyes fixed on Josh as he stood, immediately surrounded by his teammates, who knocked into him so many times in their celebration that Tyler was certain it _had_ to hurt at least a little, despite the pads he wore. As the game was called and they finished shaking the opposing team’s hands, they tore off toward the locker room, leaping in the air and bouncing off of each other like they were propelled by magnets. 

Tyler screamed himself hoarse, his smile almost splitting his face in two. The crowd was deafening, and Tyler was so caught up that he almost missed Josh tearing his helmet off and breaking away from his teammates. He ran right up to the fence, right up to Tyler, grinning just as wide, his hair wild from his helmet and his EyeBlack smeared down his face with sweat. Tyler stared at him in wonder as Josh ran right up to him, reached across the fence to wrap one hand around the back of Tyler’s neck, and pulled him into a kiss. 

Tyler’s eyes widened in absolute shock as Josh reached for him. The kiss was messy, too rushed, their teeth clinked together and Josh tasted like sweat and the gum he was constantly chewing during games, and his hand gripped Tyler just a little bit too hard around his neck and the fence was cutting into his arms where he was pressed against it. 

Tyler had never had a better kiss. 

Josh released him, pulling back with a breathless laugh and raising both of his hands to cup Tyler’s cheeks, pushing their foreheads together across the fence. His eyes were bright, almost squeezed shut by the grin stretching across his face. Tyler found himself laughing too, even through the tears suddenly welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t see anyone around him, couldn’t hear anything but Josh’s quick breaths and soft laughs. 

“Did you see me?” he asked finally, and Tyler laughed too, a loud, full laugh that released something he hadn’t even realized was stuck in his chest on its way out. 

“I saw you,” he confirmed, running his fingers through Josh’s sweaty hair, “You were amazing, J.” Josh smiled impossibly wider, pressing his lips to Tyler’s for just another second. Tyler felt his grin through the kiss. 

“Wait for me,” he requested, pulling away from Tyler finally. “I’ll meet you outside the locker room? I just have to shower and get my stuff.” Tyler nodded, and Josh bounded away, catching up with the last few members of his team as they shuffled into the locker room together. 

Tyler turned and leaned back against the fence, watching as the people filed out of the stands to leave. He saw more than a few eyes fixed on him, and normally he would’ve been petrified, but he was flying too high to care. He exhaled deeply, the smile seemingly etched permanently onto his face. Once again, he asked himself why he had questioned Josh before the game. He knew better, especially after this week, than to think his boyfriend was embarrassed to be seen with him in public. He smoothed down the back of his hair, ruffled by Josh’s hand, and caught the eye of one boy a few rows above him. 

He was probably a freshman, awkward and shy and not quite comfortable in his skin yet. He was watching Tyler, and when Tyler looked back at him, he flushed pink. Tyler smiled at him cautiously, and he smiled back immediately, his face suddenly open and honest. His awkwardness melted away, and he looked so happy and so grateful that Tyler wondered exactly what he had done to cause this reaction. The boy just nodded once in confirmation and turned to leave, never looking back at Tyler. 

Tyler felt a strange warmth settle in his stomach as he watched the boy go, and after he was all the way out of sight, he pushed off of the fence and headed toward the locker room to wait for Josh to finish. 

\--

Josh came barreling out of the locker room a while later, running right up to Tyler, his bag slung over his shoulder. His hair was still dripping from his shower, and his plain black tank top gave Tyler an excellent view of his defined arms as he approached. The football field was mostly clear by then, and Tyler had yet to shake the warm, soft feeling from his bones. 

“Hey, babe,” Josh said happily, pressing a deep, lingering kiss to Tyler’s lips. Tyler kissed him back, wrapping his arms around Josh’s shoulders and clinging to him when he felt his knees go a little weak. 

“Josh, we’re in public,” he said when he broke away, a little bit more breathlessly than he intended, pushing Josh back playfully with a hand on his chest, “Save it for later.”

Josh eyed him carefully, still smiling, but with a different gleam in his eye. “Later? Is that a promise?” he asked softly, leaning close enough that his lips brushed Tyler’s ear. A barely perceptible shiver ran up Tyler’s spine, and he gripped the front of Josh’s shirt a little tighter. 

“We’ll see,” he whispered, pecking Josh on the cheek. 

Josh slung an arm around his waist, turning to head toward the parking lot. “You want to come to my house?” he asked, teasing forgotten for the moment. “I’m starving; I’ve got to get something to eat. We could order pizza?” Tyler nodded, following him to his car, a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

\--

“-and when you jumped over that guy, that was _amazing,_ J! I really thought you were going to be hurt or something, I just couldn’t breathe while I waited for you to get up, and everybody was just-” Tyler cut off his animated ranting quickly when Josh unlocked his front door, suddenly mindful of the semi-late hour and the dark house. Josh glanced over his shoulder to give him a bemused smile as he pushed open the door. 

“Everybody was just?” he prompted out loud. Tyler glanced around the dark entryway worriedly. 

“Where are your parents?” he whispered. 

“Gone for the weekend,” Josh answered, flipping on the light and revealing his grin. “They had to take my sister to some tournament, so they’re gone until Sunday. I’m the only one here.”

Tyler flushed a little, realizing that they would have the entire house to themselves for the whole night since Tyler was sleeping over again. He was glad that this weekend’s sleepover would occur under better circumstances than the ones from the previous weekend. 

“Everybody was just silent, waiting for them to say whether or not you’d scored. I swear I could hear the heartbeat of the guy next to me,” Tyler continued after a second, toeing off his shoes and following Josh to the kitchen. 

Josh hopped up on the counter and reached for the stack of takeout menus they always had clipped to the fridge. He smiled down at the menus, the tips of his ears a little pink. “Who did you go with?” he asked, pulling his phone from the pocket of his black jeans to call in their order. 

“Oh, no one, I ended up going alone,” Tyler responded casually. Josh looked up at him, eyes suddenly wide. 

“What? Why? Tyler, after what happened last week? What if someone had tried to mess with you in the stands, or walking back and forth to the locker room to wait for me, or-” Josh looked frantic, and Tyler felt that same warm feeling from earlier that day wash over him; he quickly walked over to Josh, placing his hand on his arm. Josh cut off his rambling, but the worried look did not drop from his face. 

“J, I want to talk to you about that, actually,” Tyler said gently, squeezing his arm, “but get some food first, okay? You played a tough game, you’ve got to be wiped out.”

Josh nodded after a beat, eyeing Tyler warily as he dialed the restaurant and called in an order for delivery. He didn’t need to ask Tyler what he wanted; after 6 months together, they had shared enough pizzas for Josh to have his boyfriend’s preferences memorized. Tyler smiled slightly at this sweet gesture, the smile remaining on his face as Josh hung up the phone and looked at him expectantly. 

“Come on, let’s go to the couch,” Tyler said, wrapping his hand around Josh’s wrist and tugging him off the counter. Josh followed him, sitting down and facing Tyler on the couch with his legs folded beneath him, a serious look on his face. 

“I know what you’ve been up to,” Tyler said, and Josh’s eyebrows shot up into the curls hanging down over his forehead. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, and he looked so innocent and confused that Tyler almost had to forego the conversation in favor of kissing him breathless. 

“Josh, I’ve seen you this week. Picking me up every morning, walking me to class. What’s up with that?” 

Josh shifted his eyes from Tyler’s face to his own knee, looking uncomfortable. “I just wanted to spend more time with you, Ty,” he tried, but Tyler shook his head. 

“It’s more than that, J. You all but panicked a few minutes ago when I said I went to the game by myself,” he pointed out. He could see the tension in his boyfriend’s muscles as he clenched his jaw, still avoiding eye contact. “Talk to me, baby,” he said softly, nudging Josh’s leg with his foot. 

Josh raised his eyes to Tyler’s face, finally, looking absolutely mournful. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said quietly, reaching for Tyler’s hand, “I didn’t mean to tell you what to do or anything, I’d never try to control you like that. I didn’t mean anything I’ve done this week like that, I promise.”

Tyler felt like his heart was going to explode with the rush of affection he felt for the boy in front of him. “I never thought that, J,” he said, squeezing his hand, “I know you better than that by now. But please, tell me what’s been going on in your head.”

“I’m just worried about you!” Josh burst out, his eyes locking on Tyler’s. He looked frantic; he leaned forward slightly and grasped Tyler’s hand tighter. Tyler watched him silently, waiting for him to continue. 

“I’m just worried about you, Ty,” Josh repeated, a little quieter, “I’ve been worried about you all week. I just want you to be safe.”

“I’m okay now, babe,” Tyler said comfortingly, running his thumb lightly across the back of Josh’s hand. 

“But Tyler, you don’t understand!” The words burst out of Josh as if they were physically pulled from his throat, kicking and screaming. He took a deep breath and continued, more quietly this time, “I’ve never been more scared in my life than when I saw you laying passed out on that floor, Tyler. All that blood, and you were so still… and when you woke up, everything hurt you so badly that I was scared to touch you, even to help. I still see it when I close my eyes. I can’t stand the thought of anything like that ever happening to you again.” He pulled his hand from Tyler’s and clenched his fists on his own knees. Tyler could see his hands shaking. 

“That’s why I’ve been picking you up in the morning, and walking you to class, and that’s why I didn’t want to leave you alone at the game. I can’t let you out of my sight, Tyler. I get so scared when I can’t be with you, when I can’t protect you. I already fucked that up once, and I couldn’t live with myself if I ever let you get hurt again. I don’t know how to stop being worried about you, Tyler. I’m sorry, I know you’re probably sick of me being around you constantly and you want some space, but please don’t be upset with me, I promise, I just wanted to be able to look out for you. And when I saw people giving us shit at school for holding hands in the hallway, it just made me worry even more about what someone might try to do if I’m not around. I couldn’t have that happen, Tyler. I promised you I’d never let anything happen to you again and I meant it.”

Tyler sat silently and watched Josh ramble on, a warmth slowly spreading through his entire body. He could feel the sincerity pouring off of his boyfriend as he spoke, as if he was ever anything but completely genuine. He watched one of Josh’s hands move to his hair, watched him tug on it anxiously like he didn’t even realize he was doing it. He couldn’t keep the smile from slowly spreading across his face. Josh took a deep, long breath. 

“I just never want you to have to go through anything like that ever again, Ty. And if I can do something to prevent it, I’ll do whatever I have to, always,” Josh finished lamely, avoiding eye contact with Tyler again as he twisted his fingers in his own hair. 

Silence fell between them for a few seconds. Josh’s cheeks were flushed, and as Tyler looked at him, saw the depth of the care that his boyfriend had for him written as plainly as possible across his face, he felt as light and warm as he had ever felt. “I love you,” he said simply, tilting his head a little bit to try to get Josh to look at him. 

Josh raised his head slowly in disbelief, his eyes impossibly wide as he stared at Tyler. “What did you say?” he whispered, barely audible, as if he couldn’t force the words out. His hands were still shaking on his lap. 

Tyler smiled wider, not even feeling any of his usual doubts creep in. “I love you, Josh,” Tyler repeated, reaching out for his boyfriend. 

Josh beat him to it. 

Josh lunged at him, gripping the sides of Tyler’s face with his hands and smashing their mouths together in a messy kiss. Tyler kissed him back, twisting his hands in the front of Josh’s tank top to keep him close. 

“Tyler, Tyler,” Josh whispered over and over against his mouth, pressing kiss after kiss to his lips. He pulled back just enough to press his forehead against Tyler’s, and Tyler was surprised to see tears shining in the other boy’s dark eyes. 

“I love you too, Tyler, god, I love you so much,” Josh whispered, kissing him quickly again. “I can’t believe you just said that; I can’t believe- _Me?_ ”

“Josh, I love you, I love _you,_ J,” Tyler repeated, squeezing Josh’s shirt tighter. “I am not sick of you. I could never be sick of you. It means so much to me to have you looking out for me.”

“Really?” Josh asked softly, suddenly shy, biting his lip a little. 

“Really,” Tyler confirmed. “You make me feel safe, J. What happened was horrible, and I’m scared still too. But _you_ are the only place I feel safe.”

Josh made a slightly choked sound, emotion coloring his entire face. He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a sharp knock on the door. 

Tyler smiled a little at Josh. “We forgot the pizza,” he supplied helpfully. 

Josh sat for another couple of seconds, staring at Tyler, before rising from the couch and answering the door. He talked briefly with the delivery person, and Tyler soon heard the door shut again. 

Josh walked back into the living room, dropped the pizza box on the coffee table with a loud _thunk,_ and leaned over to immediately attach his lips to Tyler’s. He kissed him hard, gripping his jaw with trembling fingers. 

Tyler wrapped his arms around Josh’s shoulders, kissing him back just as hard. His head was spinning; it felt like years since he had really kissed Josh, and he didn’t know if it had _ever_ felt like this before. Josh shifted and crawled back onto the couch until he was leaning over Tyler, never breaking the kiss. He balanced on one arm and slid the other hand from Tyler’s jaw to his neck, fingertips brushing lightly across his skin. 

Tyler shuddered a little at the gentle contact on his neck, his mouth falling open. Josh seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss, tracing his tongue over Tyler’s bottom lip and sliding it in further when he responded eagerly. 

They kissed for a few more minutes, heated, messy kisses that left Tyler panting when he pulled back to drop his head against Josh’s neck. He listened to the sounds of Josh above him as he dragged his mouth against the skin of his jaw. His breath hitched when Tyler pressed an open-mouthed kiss right below his ear. “Ty,” he whispered, and Tyler sat up, pushing Josh back slowly to lean against the other side of the couch and crawling into his lap before re-attaching his lips to his neck. Josh groaned quietly and threaded his fingers through Tyler’s hair. 

“Tyler, Ty, baby,” Josh stuttered as Tyler mouthed persistently at his neck, sucking and nipping lightly at his pulse point, “I was just kidding before when I said later, are you- are you sure you’re okay? You- you got injured and- _fuck_ \- you’re still healing!” 

Tyler rolled his eyes where Josh couldn’t see, nipping again at the underside of Josh’s jaw, feeling him shiver. “Josh, I won’t break,” he mumbled, close to his ear. “I need you, baby, I swear I’m okay. Please, _please_ touch me.”

Josh groaned, low in his throat, surrendering and pulling Tyler’s mouth up to his to press a searing kiss to his lips. Tyler could feel him hard against his thigh where they were pressed together. “Okay, baby,” Josh mumbled against his mouth, “Tyler, _God_ , haven’t touched you all week, can’t stand it anymore.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Tyler mumbled in response, dropping his hand between their bodies to trail his fingers lightly over the growing bulge in Josh’s jeans. 

Josh growled, gripping Tyler by the backs of his thighs and flipping him onto his back, kissing down his neck as he rolled his hips against Tyler’s lightly. Tyler’s eyes fluttered shut at the feeling; he hooked one leg around Josh’s waist to pull him closer, gasping out loud at the improved angle when Josh rolled his hips down again. Josh tugged at his shirt and worked a bruise right below Tyler’s collar, biting and sucking at his skin, and Tyler sent a silent prayer to anyone who was listening, thanking them for Josh foregoing his prior need to treat Tyler like he was still hurt, fragile. 

Josh tugged Tyler’s shirt over his head, discarding it next to the couch and dropping hot kisses down his chest, closing his lips around one of Tyler’s nipples while he scratched his nails lightly across the other. Tyler arched up into Josh’s mouth and his hips, small whimpers falling from his lips as he desperately tried to seek more friction. “Josh, baby, please,” he whined, straining upwards, his fists clenched in the fabric of Josh’s tank top. 

“Tell me what you need, baby boy,” Josh murmured, kissing the shell of Tyler’s ear gently. Tyler whined again, high pitched and needy, and Josh chuckled softly, sucking on the spot right below his ear again just to listen to the noises it drew from Tyler’s lips. 

“J, _please,_ touch me, do something,” Tyler choked out, his head spinning and his pulse racing beneath his skin. 

Josh made a soft “shh”ing sound against his neck, pressing one more kiss to his skin before sitting up and reaching for the button on Tyler’s jeans, flicking them open carefully. “It’s okay baby, I’ve got you, let me take care of you,” he whispered, palming Tyler gently through his briefs. Tyler choked out a moan, his head falling back against the cushion behind him as he arched up into Josh’s touch. 

Josh pulled Tyler’s jeans down and off carefully, leaving him in just his briefs. Tyler vaguely registered that Josh was still fully clothed, but the thought flew from his mind as Josh pressed the heel of his hand down a little bit harder into Tyler’s erection. Tyler moaned again, louder, and Josh chuckled under his breath, rolling his hand down again. 

Tyler felt heat coursing through his entire body. Josh’s hand was the perfect pressure on his aching cock through the fabric, and he suddenly was struck by the realization that this was about to be over embarrassingly soon as he bucked up desperately into Josh’s hand. “Josh, J, baby,” he gasped, needing just a _little bit more-_

Josh pulled his hand away, smirking down at Tyler as he whined long and low and bucked his hips up again, chasing the friction Josh had cruelly removed. “Relax, baby boy,” he soothed, brushing his hands lightly down Tyler’s thighs. “I said I’ll take care of you.” He ducked his head, kissing Tyler’s stomach, sucking a mark into his hipbone while Tyler tried to calm his breathing. Josh continued trailing his mouth down Tyler’s body, pulling playfully on the waistband of his briefs with his teeth. 

“Josh,” Tyler hissed, and Josh smirked against his skin. He dropped his head lower, mouthing at the outline of Tyler’s cock through the fabric. Tyler’s hands slammed down on the cushions above his head; he tried desperately to choke back the moans rushing out of his throat like a waterfall. 

Josh mouthed at him for a few more seconds, squeezing his lips around the head through his briefs, before he gave in, hooking his fingers in the waistband and pulling the underwear off of Tyler’s legs. He returned before Tyler even had a chance to breathe, taking him into his mouth as far as he could and swallowing around his cock. Tyler cried out, fists clenched in the couch above his head as his boyfriend worked him over. 

Josh pulled back, sucking lightly on the head and running his tongue across the slit. Tyler opened his eyes long enough to look down and see Josh’s eyes locked on his, watching his reactions, and Tyler had to squeeze his eyes shut again to avoid coming immediately at the image of Josh with his perfect lips stretched around his cock, dark eyes clouded with lust. 

Josh sucked harder, bobbing his head and working into a rhythm. Tyler groaned louder than he was proud of when he felt him pull off and run his tongue down his shaft to his balls, sucking gently on them as he rolled them in his hand. “ _Josh,_ ” he cried desperately, his mind cloudy as his body was bombarded with sensation. Josh paused for just a second, his lips sliding halfway up the side of Tyler’s shaft, and _smirked_ at him; Tyler felt his lips curve on his dick before he even saw his expression, and he choked on air. “ _Jesus,_ ” he groaned, his cock twitching against Josh’s mouth. “Josh, you can’t just _do that,_ you’re so sexy, _fuck,_ I’m going to-” His words broke off into a long moan when Josh swallowed him back down, his nose nearly brushing the skin of his lower abdomen. Tyler lost himself in the wet heat of Josh’s mouth, and he bucked his hips up without thinking, but Josh took it easily, pressing his tongue to the spot on the underside of his cock that always made Tyler lose his mind. 

After a few more minutes, Josh pulled off with a pop, looking at Tyler with a satisfied smirk as he fisted his hand in his own hair, tugging on it desperately. “Baby,” Josh whispered, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of Tyler’s cock, watching him jerk, “I want to try something. Do you trust me?”

Tyler dragged his eyes open, his legs trembling with the effort of holding them still, desperate to chase the feeling causing heat to pool in his abdomen. “With anything,” he replied honestly, his voice hoarse and ruined, as if he had been the one with a cock shoved down his throat. 

Josh smiled wider, skimming his nails up Tyler’s thighs gently. “Then lay back and let me make you feel good, baby,” he whispered. He shifted off the couch and slid to his knees on the floor, gripping Tyler’s legs and pulling him to the edge of the couch. Tyler’s legs were still shaking, and he pushed himself up on one trembling elbow to look at Josh. Josh just winked at him, hooking Tyler’s legs over his shoulders and ducking down so his head was buried between Tyler’s thighs. 

“Baby, what are you-” he started to ask, but Josh just gripped his ass, spreading him, and dipped his head to lick a long, flat stripe across Tyler’s hole. 

Tyler’s head fell back onto the couch immediately, feeling boneless and tense at the same time. The new sensation was like a star exploding behind his eyes; he couldn’t see the ceiling above his head. “ _Josh,_ ” he cried as his boyfriend traced his tongue over him again, blowing cool air on the wet stripes, making him shiver. “Fuck, _Josh._ ” 

Josh hummed, the vibrations traveling from his mouth to Tyler’s skin, and he moaned louder. Josh traced his tongue in a circle across Tyler’s hole, flicking it gently against the muscle but not pushing in yet. Tyler panted, black spots dancing at the edges of his vision, and he nearly shrieked as Josh finally pointed his tongue and pushed it in, fucking him slowly while his lips massaged his skin. 

Tyler could feel his heart beating in every inch of his skin as Josh fucked him with his tongue, working him open. He moaned wantonly, grinding down against Josh’s tongue, desperate to get him deeper, harder, _something._ When Josh slipped a finger inside alongside his tongue, immediately pressing against his prostate, Tyler felt like he would combust. “Josh, it’s so good, baby, _so good,_ fuck, _fuck,_ ” Tyler babbled, his hand flying to Josh’s hair, tugging on it as he continued to grind down on his face. Josh moaned at his words, and Tyler felt it radiate through him, and he gasped, choking on air. Josh was relentless, flicking his tongue faster inside Tyler as his finger pressed repeatedly against his prostate. “Josh, baby, I’m going to come,” he choked out, vaguely able to be impressed at his ability to form coherent sentences when he felt like his entire body was on fire. Josh pressed his finger hard against his prostate once more before pulling it and his tongue back. 

“Not yet, baby,” he whispered, his voice wrecked, “I’m not done with you quite yet.” Tyler glanced down, saw Josh palming himself through his jeans, and groaned, tipping his head back against the couch again. 

“What do you need, baby boy?” Josh whispered, pressing a kiss to Tyler’s knee where it rested near his head. 

“ _Fuck me,_ ” Tyler responded immediately, tugging on Josh’s hair again. Josh growled, moving Tyler’s legs off of his shoulders and climbing back on top of him, kissing him roughly. Tyler could taste himself on Josh’s tongue, moaning into his mouth as he tugged desperately on Josh’s shirt. 

“Off, off,” he muttered against Josh’s lips, and Josh obliged, pulling back to let Tyler pull the tank top over his head and throw it behind them. Before Tyler could really enjoy the skin he revealed, Josh pulled back, standing up from the couch, breathing hard. 

Tyler whined, his dick so hard it was nearly painful. Josh smiled at him, kissing him softly on the head. “I just need to go get lube, baby, I’ll be right back,” he promised before leaving the room. 

Luckily for Tyler, Josh returned quickly, settling back between Tyler’s legs and kissing him again as his fingers fumbled with the bottle. Tyler sat up and scratched his fingernails down Josh’s chest, hearing his breath hitch as he scraped them over his nipples. He reached the button on Josh’s jeans and popped it open quickly. He reached into his boyfriend’s jeans, trying to get a hand on his cock, before Josh pulled him back with a hand on his wrist. “This is about you, baby boy,” he murmured, pushing his jeans and briefs down his hips and discarding them on the floor. “Don’t worry about me.” He pressed two slick fingers against Tyler’s hole, teasing just long enough for Tyler to begin to whine and push down against him before he was pressing them both in. 

He began to pump his fingers in and out slowly, scissoring them and working Tyler open. He was always so careful, and Tyler felt a wave of affection rush over him through his lust-soaked mind. “I love you,” he breathed, and Josh raised his eyes from what he was doing to meet Tyler’s. He smiled softly, and a brief moment of quiet settled over them.

Then, Josh pushed both of his fingers into Tyler’s prostate, and he threw his head back against the couch, a loud moan falling from his lips. 

Josh slipped in a third finger and sped up his pace, and Tyler was babbling, barely coherent moans of “Josh” and “yes” and “fuck” falling continuously from his lips as Josh continued his assault on his prostate. 

“Are you ready for me, baby?” Josh murmured, pressing his fingers deep into Tyler once more. 

Tyler cried out again, desperately scrabbling at Josh’s sweat-slick shoulders as he pushed his hips down to meet Josh’s fingers. “Yes, yes, _please_ fuck me, J,” he babbled, and Josh smiled, withdrawing his fingers and reaching for the condom he had placed on the coffee table. He slid it on and slicked up his cock, groaning low as he stroked himself slowly. He lined himself up with Tyler’s entrance and paused, looking down at his boyfriend’s red, wrecked face. 

“Josh, what?” Tyler whined, pressing his hips down, trying to urge Josh to _get on with it, already._ Josh just smiled, leaning down and pressing a sweet kiss to Tyler’s lips. Tyler kissed him back, his already-trembling legs going weak where they were wrapped loosely around Josh’s body. 

“I love you so much, Tyler,” he whispered against his lips, and Tyler couldn’t help but smile. 

“I love you-” he started to respond, and then Josh pushed in, causing the rest of his sentence to break off into a low, loud moan. He went slowly, like he always did, and Tyler could feel every inch of him as he filled him up. 

When Tyler’s legs wrapped around his waist and started to push him forward, Josh knew he was ready. He pulled out almost all the way before pushing back in, faster this time, working up a rhythm as Tyler panted and moaned beneath him. 

Tyler hiked his legs up higher on Josh’s back, crying out as the new angle allowed Josh to push directly against his prostate. Josh got the message, slamming into him faster, striking the same spot over and over. Tyler’s mouth hung open, letting loose a steady stream of curses and moans as Josh pounded into him. Josh leaned over to press his lips against Tyler’s in a burning kiss as he continued to thrust into him, and Tyler’s eyes almost rolled back in his head as Josh’s cock pressed even harder against his prostate. 

“God, baby, you’re so perfect,” Josh panted, his control finally slipping as he fucked Tyler harder into the couch. His hands gripped Tyler’s hips tightly, but not tightly enough to leave more bruises on his still-tender skin, until Tyler reached down to press his hands on top of Josh’s on his hips, pushing his fingertips harder into his skin. 

“I want to feel _you,_ ” Tyler whispered hoarsely, and Josh shuddered, a choked moan escaping his lips as he obliged, gripping Tyler tighter as he continued to rock into him. 

Tyler nearly choked when he felt Josh’s hand slip between them to finally, _finally,_ start stroking his cock. He felt the heat building in his abdomen, and he knew Josh was close too as his thrusts began to lose rhythm. “Tyler, Tyler, baby, you’re amazing, so fucking sexy like this, love you so much,” he groaned, his hand speeding up on his boyfriend’s cock, thumb sliding over the slit. Tyler bucked into his hand, losing himself in Josh’s words and the feeling of his boyfriend all around him. “Come for me, baby,” Josh whispered, stroking Tyler once more, and his words were all Tyler needed to tip over the edge. He came hard with a cry of Josh’s name, his vision going black around the edges as the feeling coursed through him. Josh worked him through it, managing a few more thrusts before coming himself, his hips still thrusting weakly as he rode out the waves. 

He didn’t collapse on Tyler, mindful of his still-healing torso, but pulled out carefully and slid the condom off, tying it and dropping it on top of his jeans on the floor to be retrieved later. He grabbed a shirt from the floor and wiped Tyler off carefully before gently shifting his spent body forward. He curled up behind him and wrapped his arms around Tyler’s waist, pulling him into his chest and kissing him softly behind his ear. 

“God, I missed that,” Tyler whispered, tracing patterns on Josh’s arm with one hand and linking the other with Josh’s on his waist. He felt Josh smile against his neck. 

“Me too,” he whispered, pressing another kiss to Tyler’s skin. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, J, I’m really okay. You were perfect,” Tyler assured him, “You’re always perfect. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You don’t have to know,” Josh replied, squeezing his arms tighter around Tyler. 

Tyler smiled, basking comfortably in the warmth of Josh’s arms. His eyes drifted to the coffee table, and he laughed softly. “Pizza’s probably cold, J,” he noted. Josh laughed, unwrapping his arms from Tyler and sitting up slowly. 

“Come on, let’s eat, you need to take care of yourself while you’re still recovering,” he said, standing up to tug his briefs back on. He grabbed the pizza box and headed to the kitchen, and Tyler managed to pull himself into a sitting position with significant effort, searching for his underwear on the floor. 

“Aw, Josh, you used my shirt to wipe up,” he protested when he accidentally grabbed the shirt in question. He discarded it back on the floor, slipping his own briefs over his hips. 

Josh laughed from the kitchen, poking his head out around the doorway. Tyler could hear the microwave running. “You can wear one of mine,” Josh said, his eyes bright, “You know I love how you look in my clothes, baby.”

Tyler smiled, padding into the kitchen and snuggling right into Josh’s already open arms, smiling wider when he felt him press a kiss into his sweaty hair. And yeah, he decided he could probably deal with spunk-covered clothes, cold pizza, _anything,_ if it meant he got to keep the boy in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! This is my first fic in A LONG TIME and my first Joshler. Open to suggestions and requests!


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